Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, criminal prosecutions must comport with prevailing notions of fundamental fairness.1 In California v. Trombetta,2 the United States Supreme Court articulated:We have long interpreted this standard of fairness to require that criminal defendants be afforded a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense. To safeguard that right, the Court has developed what might loosely be called the area of constitutionally guaranteed access to evidence. Taken together, this group of constitutional privileges delivers exculpatory evidence into the hands of the accused, thereby protecting the innocent from erroneous conviction and ensuring the integrity of our criminal justice system.

Yes. In Brady v. Maryland, the United States Supreme Court held that suppression of material evidence by the Government that favors a citizen charged with a crime upon request amounts to a violation of the citizen’s fundamental due process rights regardless of the good or bad faith on the part of the Government. A prosecution that withholds evidence on demand of an accused which, if made available, would tend to exculpate him or reduce the penalty helps shape a trial that bears heavily on the defendant. That casts the prosecutor in the role of an architect of a proceeding that does not comport with standards of justice.In United States v. Agurs, the Court went a step further and held that for the purposes of a citizen’s Fourteenth Amendment due process right to a fair trial, a prosecutor has a constitutional duty to turn over, even without request, exculpatory material to the defense.

Typically when that question is asked, the client is referring to Miranda Warnings. The answer is that a police officer is only required to read an individual their Miranda warnings in certain situations and only when that individual is subjected to what is called “custodial interrogation.” Custodial interrogation is a legal term of art and is fact specific. Unlike how it sounds, it does not necessarily mean that a person has to be in traditional custody (i.e. under arrest) nor does it mean that an officer has to give Miranda warnings to anyone that they place under arrest. For these reasons, it is essential to hire a criminal defense attorney that is practiced in the intricacies of what constitutes custodial interrogation.

Typically when that question is asked, the client is referring to Miranda Warnings. The answer is that a police officer is only required to read an individual their Miranda warnings in certain situations and only when that individual is subjected to what is called “custodial interrogation.” Custodial interrogation is a legal term of art and is fact specific. Unlike how it sounds, it does not necessarily mean that a person has to be in traditional custody (i.e. under arrest) nor does it mean that an officer has to give Miranda warnings to anyone that they place under arrest. For these reasons, it is essential to hire a criminal defense attorney that is practiced in the intricacies of what constitutes custodial interrogation.

Miranda Warnings are required when and individual is being subjected to custodial interrogation.